Candace House ready to begin construction in Winnipeg

A new space for victims going through the court system is a step closer to becoming a reality.

Candace House is named for Candace Derksen who disappeared and was found dead in 1984.

Mark Edward Grant was acquitted of Candace’s murder last fall.

Grant was arrested in 2007, convicted in 2011, and re-tried in 2017. Through it all, Candace’s family endured the testimony, the evidence, the media, the heart-ache.

Wilma Derksen says she wished there was a space for her family to relax and unwind while they were going through Candace’s trial proceedings.

Derksen told 680 CJOB Tuesday that construction is now set to begin on the project.

“There is no place in the system, that is even that victim friendly. You need a place as a victim to settle down and to have a safe place.. to unwind, to debrief, to cry those ugly tears.”

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Not only will Candace House provide a comfortable bed, washroom facilities and a kitchen area, but it will also provide information.

Derksen said it will be staffed with somebody who has knowledge and expertise on the legal system.

Derksen explained when she first started to navigate the legal system, the language itself was a challenge. She wants Candace House to be able to guide people through the confusion.

“We didn’t have the vocabulary. It was a totally different language. So there has to be translation. There has to be interpretion.”

Derksen said Candace House is the first home of it’s kind in Canada and likely the world.